Hate Me
by chris-daae
Summary: Based on a prompt from tumblr: "Do you hate me, too?" Meg saw a dark shadow moving. She ran after him, and he ran from her, until they arrived at a dead end. [Guardian Angel series]


Everything was a mess. People were shouting and running everywhere. The managers were trying to calm the audience, with no success. Someone was asked to call the police, the doctors, and someone's mother. Some young dancers were crying. Christine had ran back to her dressing room, her face pale white.

Meg stayed frozen in place as it all happened around her. She couldn't believe it. It seemed like a bad dream. She saw the chandelier falling with her own eyes but the view was so surreal that it could not be truth.

When Meg finally recovered from the shock enough to move again, her eyes searched for her mother. Madame Giry was trying to calm the dancers. She made eye contact with Meg, and the girl saw sadness and worry.

Meg ran backstage. She was going in the opposite direction of the commotion, and the more she walked, the quieter it was.

"Where are you? Show up!", she shouted to the walls. Usually, Meg would be careful when trying to contact him, as being caught wouldn't be good for anyone, but today she couldn't care less. Not that anyone would pay attention to her, as weird as her behavior would seem.

"Show up!", she repeated, looking around. He had to be near.

With the corner of her eye, Meg saw a dark shadow moving. There he was. She ran after him, and he ran from her, until they arrived at a dead end.

"You-", Meg started, but Erik interrupted her.

"Leave me alone!"

He had his back to Meg, facing the wall.

"No! What do you think you just did?!"

Erik laughed.

"Me? Why do you think it was me?"

"Don't try to deny it now. Everyone heard you!", Meg shouted.

"Did they?"

Meg could not tell if he was trying to make himself seem innocent or if he was making fun of her. It was frustrating.

"How could you? After all we did for you! People were hurt!"

Erik turned to her, and Meg had to take a step behind. She wasn't afraid of him, but after what happened tonight she was starting to look at him in a different way. She was suddenly very aware of their height difference, and the way he dressed made him look rather intimidating. She could barely see his expression because of the mask.

"Why should I care?"

"Why should you care...?", Meg whispered. "How can you-"

"No human ever cared about me!", he said in a louder voice. "Why should I care?"

"You know very well this is a lie!", Meg shouted back, getting teary. "If you don't have a conscience of your own, at least think of mother, who has always cleaned your mess for you!"

"I never asked anything of her! It's her own fault if she decided to get involved with me.", Erik replied, looking away.

"Erik-"

"Don't call me this!", he shouted. "Erik is dead."

Meg didn't know what to say. She couldn't recognize him anymore. She has always known that he had a dark side to him, born of all the pain he had to endure in his past. But until now, all he had ever done were some harmless pranks, and he has always been kind to her at least. Meg once looked up to Erik, he took care of her when she needed it, and she never doubted that his soul was bright and good. Until now.

What happened to the kind man she once knew? Was he dead as he claimed? Did the role he play as a ghost influence him? Why didn't Meg notice?

Lowering her head to hide her tears, Meg finally said:

"This can't continue. We will not cover up for you anymore. You are alone."

"Good.", Erik replied, cold.

"And if you hurt someone else-"

"Then what? What can you, some silly weak girl, or your old mother do?"

Meg didn't know how to reply. Her body was starting to shake.

"Are you gonna hate me forever?", he mocked. "Just like everyone else? Hate me! Do you hate me now too?"

"Yes, I hate you!", Meg shouted. She couldn't hide her tears anymore. She knew she didn't really mean it, but she was hurt by how he was treating her and she wanted him to know. Even if he didn't care anymore. "I hate you! I don't even know who you are anymore, and I don't want to have anything to do with you!"

Meg expected him to mock her again, but he didn't. He stayed quiet for some moments, before he started laughing. But it was not the same laugh that she heard echoing when she was on stage, not that one that gave she shivers. He was not laughing because he found something funny. It was a painful laugh, that sounded almost like a sob. That's when Meg understood.

Erik was not in his right mind.

Mother has warned her about it. No one felt all the pain he did without some permanent damage. Did he even know what he was doing?

Maybe her Erik was still there somewhere. Maybe something could be done to bring him back.

Erik fell to his knees, his laughter dying, but his shoulders still shook. Meg looked down at him, not feeling hurt or angry anymore. All she felt was sadness and pity.

"I don't want you to hate me...", he confessed, in a whisper.

Meg felt a bit of hope. Yes, her Erik was still somewhere there.

She reached one of her hands to his hair, softly caressing. It was still to soon to forgive him, to even know if someday she would be able to forgive him for today. But if there was any chance of things going back to what they used to be, she would do whatever it took.


End file.
